Entertainment

Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958), Berry refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive. Writing lyrics that focused on teen life and consumerism, and developing a music style that included guitar solos and showmanship, Berry was a major influence on subsequent rock music.

Chuck Berry Cause of Death

Police in St. Charles County, Missouri, were called to Berry's house on March 18, 2017, where he was found unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at the scene, aged 90.

William Christopher (October 20, 1932 – December 31, 2016) was an American actor, best known for playing Father Mulcahy on the television series M*A*S*H and Private Lester Hummel on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

Christopher appeared in various television series, including Murder, She Wrote and Hogan's Heroes. In 1998 he guest-starred in an episode of Mad About You. He also remained active in the theater, including a tour of the United States in the mid 1990s with Jamie Farr performing Neil Simon's The Odd Couple on stage. In 2008–09, he toured with Church Basement Ladies.

Christopher died at his home on December 31, 2016, in Pasadena, California. According to his son, John Christopher, the 84-year old actor died as the result of small-cell carcinoma.

Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer, businesswoman, film historian, and humanitarian. Her breakout role was the portrayal of Helen Kane in the 1950 film Three Little Words, for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. However, it was her first leading role in 1952 at age 19, as Kathy Selden in Singin' in the Rain, that set her on the path to fame. By the mid-1950s, she was a major star. Other notable successes include The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (1953), Susan Slept Here (1954), Bundle of Joy (1956 Golden Globe nomination), The Catered Affair (1956 National Board of Review Best Supporting Actress Winner), and Tammy and the Bachelor (1957), in which her rendering of the song "Tammy" reached number one on the music charts. In 1959, she released her first pop music album, entitled Debbie.

Debbie Reynolds cause of death

On December 23, 2016, Reynolds' daughter, actress and writer Carrie Fisher, suffered a heart attack on a transatlantic flight from London to Los Angeles. On Christmas Day, Reynolds reported Fisher was in a stable condition. However, Fisher died at the age of 60 on December 27.

The next day (December 28), Reynolds was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, in fair-to-serious condition after a stroke at her son's home. Later that afternoon, Reynolds died in the hospital.

Carrie Frances Fisher (October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016) was an American actress, screenwriter, author, producer, and speaker. She was known for playing Princess Leia in the Star Wars films. Fisher was born in Beverly Hills, California, the daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and actress Debbie Reynolds.

Fisher was also known for her semi-autobiographical novels, including Postcards from the Edge and the screenplay for the film of the same name, as well as her autobiographical one-woman play and its nonfiction book, Wishful Drinking, based on the show. Her other film roles included Shampoo (1975), The Blues Brothers (1980), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), The 'Burbs (1989), and When Harry Met Sally... (1989).

Carrie Fisher cause of death

On December 23, 2016, Fisher went into cardiac arrest while on a flight from London to Los Angeles; a fellow actor seated near Fisher reported that she had stopped breathing. A passenger onboard the flight performed CPR on Fisher until paramedics arrived. After being taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center by ambulance, she was placed on a ventilator. Fisher was reported to have been stabilized while in the hospital.

Fisher died at age 60 on December 27, 2016, at 8:55am Pacific Standard Time, in Los Angeles, California.

Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou (June, 25 1963 – December, 25 2016), known professionally as George Michael, was an English singer, songwriter, and record producer who rose to fame as a member of the music duo Wham! He was best known in the 1980s and 1990s with his style of post-disco dance-pop, with best-selling songs such as "Last Christmas" and "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go".

Michael sold more than 100 million records worldwide. His 1987 debut solo album, Faith, sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Michael garnered seven number one singles in the UK and eight number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, including "Careless Whisper" and "Freedom! '90". He ranks among the best-selling British acts of all time, with Billboard magazine ranking him the 40th-most successful artist ever. Michael won various music awards throughout his 30-year career, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male twice, four MTV Video Music Awards, four Ivor Novello Awards, three American Music Awards, and two Grammy Awards from eight nominations. Michael, who was gay, was an active LGBT rights campaigner and HIV/AIDS charity fundraiser.

George Michael Cause of death

On 25 December 2016, Michael died in his sleep at his home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, aged 53. He was found dead in bed in the early hours. No cause of death was immediately determined, although his manager Michael Lippman said that heart failure was the cause of death. A post-mortem was to be undertaken in due course.

On June 14, 1989, in Beverly Hills, California, Gabor was accused of slapping the face of Beverly Hills police officer Paul Kramer when he stopped her for a traffic violation at 8551 Olympic Boulevard. At trial three months later, a jury convicted her of slapping Kramer. They also found her guilty of driving without a license and possessing an open container of alcohol. She served three days in jail from July 27 to July 30, 1990.

Zsa Zsa Gabor Cause of Death

Gabor died at the age of 99 of a heart attack at her home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, on December 18, 2016, less than two months before she would have become a centenarian. She had been on life support for the previous five years. She is survived by husband Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt, whom she wed in 1986.

Florence Agnes Henderson (February 14, 1934 – November 24, 2016) was an American actress and singer with a career spanning six decades. She is best remembered for her starring role as matriarch Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974. Henderson also appeared in film as well as on stage and hosted several long-running cooking and variety shows over the years. She appeared as a guest on many scripted and nonscripted (talk and reality show) television programs and as a panelist on numerous game shows. She was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars in 2010. Henderson hosted her own talk show, The Florence Henderson Show, and cooking show, Who's Cooking with Florence Henderson, on Retirement Living TV (RLTV).

Florence Henderson cause of death

Henderson died at age 82 on November 24, 2016, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. She had been hospitalized the previous day, According to her manager, Kayla Pressman, Henderson died of heart failure.

Robert Francis Vaughn (November 22, 1932 – November 11, 2016) was an American actor noted for his stage, film and television work. His best-known TV roles include suave spy Napoleon Solo in the 1960s series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; wealthy detective Harry Rule in the 1970s series The Protectors; Morgan Wendell in the 1978-79 mini series "Centennial"; and the formidable General Hunt Stockwell in the 5th season of the 1980s series The A-Team. In film, he portrayed quiet, skittish gunman Lee in The Magnificent Seven, Major Paul Krueger in The Bridge at Remagen, the voice of Proteus IV, the computer villain of Demon Seed, Walter Chalmers in Bullitt, Ross Webster in Superman III, and war veteran Chester A. Gwynn in The Young Philadelphians which earned him a 1960 Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Robert Vaughn cause of death

Vaughn died in a hospice in Danbury, Connecticut, on November 11, 2016, eleven days before his 84th birthday, after a year-long battle with leukemia.

Julie Gregg (January 24, 1937 – November 7, 2016) was an American television, film and stage actress.

She is best known for her portrayal of Sandra Corleone (Sonny Corleone's wife) in The Godfather (1972). Also notably, she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in the 1968 musical The Happy Time.

Gregg died of cancer on November 7, 2016, in Van Nuys, California. She was 79 years old at the time of her death.

Peter Jozzeppi "Pete" Burns (August, 5 1959 – October, 23 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and television personality. He founded the pop band Dead or Alive in 1980, in which he was vocalist and songwriter, and who rose to mainstream success with their 1985 single "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)". He later rose to further celebrity status in the British media following his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother 4, in which he finished in fifth place. He appeared on further television reality shows, including as a presenter.

Pete Burns cause of death

Burns died following a sudden cardiac arrest on 23 October 2016 at the age of 57.

Ollie Imogene "Jean" Shepard (November 21, 1933 – September 25, 2016) was an American honky tonk singer-songwriter who pioneered for women in country music. Shepard released a total of 73 singles to the Hot Country Songs chart, one of which reached the No. 1 spot. She recorded a total of 24 studio albums between 1956 and 1981, and became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1955.

After Kitty Wells' 1952 breakthrough, Shepard quickly followed, and a national television gig and the Opry helped make her a star when few female country singers had enduring success. Her first hit, "A Dear John Letter", a 1953 duet with Ferlin Husky, was the first post-World War II record by a woman country artist to sell more than a million copies.

Jean Shepard, Cause of death

On September 25, 2016, Shepard died of Parkinson's Disease. She was 82.

Margaret Nixon McEathron (February 22, 1930 – July 24, 2016), better known as Marni Nixon, was an American soprano and playback singer for featured actresses in movie musicals. She is best known for dubbing the singing voices of the leading actresses in films, including The King and I, West Side Story and My Fair Lady.

Besides her voice work in films, Nixon's varied career included some film roles of her own, television, opera, concerts with major symphony orchestras around the world, musicals on stage throughout the United States, and recordings.

Nixon died on July 24, 2016, in New York from the effects of breast cancer, aged 86.

Billy Paul (born Paul Williams; December 1, 1934 – April 24, 2016) was a Grammy Award winning American soul singer, most known for his 1972 number-one single, "Me and Mrs. Jones", as well as the 1973 album and single "War of the Gods" which blends his more conventional pop, soul and funk styles with electronic and psychedelic influences.

He was one of the many artists associated with the Philadelphia soul sound created by Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell. Paul was identified by his diverse vocal style which ranged from mellow and soulful to low and raspy. Questlove of The Roots equated Paul to Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, calling him "one of the criminally unmentioned proprietors of socially conscious post-revolution '60s civil rights music."

Billy Paul Cause of Death

Paul died on the afternoon of April 24, 2016 at his home in Blackwood, New Jersey from pancreatic cancer at the age of 81.

Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016), known by his mononym Prince, was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and actor, serving as a major figure in popular music for over three decades. Prince was renowned as an innovator and was widely known for his eclectic work, flamboyant stage presence, and wide vocal range. He was widely regarded as the pioneer of Minneapolis sound. His music combined rock, R&B, soul, funk, hip hop, disco, psychedelia, jazz, and pop.

Illness and death

On April 15, 2016, Prince's private plane was forced to land in Illinois so he could seek medical treatment for flu-like symptoms. He performed in a concert one day later in Atlanta, Georgia. On April 21, 2016, he died at the age of 57. He was found unresponsive at his home in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

Chyna (born Joan Marie Laurer; December 27, 1970 – April 17-20, 2016) was an American professional wrestler, actor, glamour model, bodybuilder and pornographic film actor.

On April 20, 2016, Laurer was found dead at her home in Redondo Beach, California. She had been taking medication for anxiety and insomnia. A statement was posted to her Twitter account confirming her death.